Elevator Perils
by Silver Sniper
Summary: A new level of insanity in which some likely, unlikely, or just plain weird pair of people get stuck in the elevator. Ch. 4: Shishido and Yukimura.
1. Floor 1: Tezuka&Atobe

Quick note: I'll usually, or at least try to update this anytime between two weeks to two months, sometimes maybe even a bit before or after said dates. Also, there's no dirty or intimate scenes in any of these, and if I do hint at shonen-ai, it'll probably be minor and just for the humor of it. There may be some OOC in this, though it's often not intended. Aside from that and me sounding like some bitter old lady (which I'm not) I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Floor One: Tezuka and Atobe

* * *

The elevator door opened with a familiar ding, and Tezuka was frankly quite surprised to find who was waiting behind the open doors. The boy inside the elevator seemed fairly surprised as well, but immediately waved it off and composed himself. Neither said anything to one another. The elevator doors shut. 

"Fancy seeing you here, Tezuka," Atobe spoke at last.

"Same to you, Atobe," Tezuka replied coolly. "What business did you have in a hospital like this one?"

"More than you think, Tezuka, more than you think," Atobe replied with a smirk as he turned around to face the boy, back leisurely leaning against the door and his arms crossed in front of him. "And you?"

Tezuka was about to reply when the elevator gave a sudden lurch, sending both of them off balance and crashing into the walls. With a loud screech, the elevator came to a halt, and the lights dimmed until they faded altogether, leaving the two alone and trapped in the dark.

"Atobe, are you alright?" Tezuka said offhandedly out of politeness. The other boy, however, was far from wanting to be polite.

"Oh yes, Tezuka, of course I'm all right," was the sarcastic response. "We're stuck in a pitch black elevator, and _your calmly sitting cross-legged on my stomach asking me if I'm alright_!"

It was after those words that the backup generator decided to kick in, and Tezuka blinked as he realized he indeed was calmly sitting cross-legged on top of the narcissus' stomach. With an apologetic grunt, the boy quickly got off as he extended a hand to Atobe. The Hyoutei captain just scoffed as he slapped it away and picked himself up without any further assistance.

"I don't need your help, Tezuka," he said bitterly. Tezuka just shrugged and waved it off, knowing that this kind of behavior was normal for Atobe.

So in the uncomfortable silence, the two waited.

And waited…

And waited…

And waited…

And-

"It's not moving."

Both boys turned to each other as they realized that they had said the same exact thing at the same exact time, which will forever go down in the history of the two as one of their few golden moments where both actually agreed on the same thing. Of course, their simultaneous voicing of this was just the bonus of it. No, the real treat of this was that both of them had went to push the lobby floor button as, you guessed it, the same time.

"Tezuka," Atobe said in a dark manner.

"Atobe," Tezuka returned in the same way.

And once again, both were enveloped in a pregnant silence, which the two of them more than appreciated.

… That is until both (simultaneously) realized that the elevator was still not moving, and possibly not planning to anywhere soon as well.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the outside… 

"Hyoutei!"

"Seigaku!"

"What are you guys doing here!"

It seems that Tezuka and Atobe weren't the only ones having golden moments that day. In fact, the entire Hyoutei and Seigaku teams seemed to be, in fact, quite in sync with each other as well.

"Well, we don't have to tell you!" Momoshiro said while Gakuto said the same thing as well.

Glare.

Glare.

Glare.

Oh yes, very golden moment indeed.

* * *

And while Seigaku and Hyoutei indulged themselves in a highly intense glaring contest, (because staring contests were just _so_ last year) Tezuka was trying to cope with an muddled Atobe. For the past hour and thirty minutes, (where were those stupid mechanics when you needed them?) the boy had confined himself in a corner, seemingly dealing with a headache, or so it seemed anyhow. 

"Atobe, are you alright?" Tezuka asked for the second time that evening. The silver/brunette could only meekly shake his head as his hands clutched his forehead in frustration, or was it just pain?

"I'm fine," the boy snapped, though by the agitated hisses and soft curses he produced, Tezuka could have testified otherwise.

"Did you hit your head?" Tezuka asked bluntly.

"I'm _fine_!" Atobe insisted, though slight trembling spoke otherwise.

Tezuka could only sigh as he watched the other slowly slip into unconsciousness. (Not that he was aware of it of course. Nope, too busy staring at the wall behind him to care. …No, honestly.)

* * *

"Ha! I win!" Momoshiro jeered as he watched the persistent Gakuto blink and then draw back in irritation. 

"Best of seven!"

"You're on!"

The others could only shake their heads at the two's childishness. While Momoshiro and Gakuto were having their attention conquered by their silly little glaring contest, the other more _mature_ members of the teams were having a serious discussion about why they were actually there.

"Um, have any of you guys seen our captain?" Ohtori asked respectfully.

Seigaku blinked.

"You mean your captain's missing too?" Oishi asked, surprised.

"Atobe came here because he was having troubles with insomnia," Jirou blurted out before his teammates could stop him. (Atobe was going to kill them if anyone else found that the 'almighty ore-sama' was having sleeping problem.) He then yawned. "Though I don't know how anyone could have any trouble sleeping… zzzzzz…"

"Tezuka came here for his regular checkup," Fuji mused. "But he should've returned home a long time ago. Oishi got a call from his parents."

"So was Atobe, coming here I mean. We were all suppose to be attending some play thing, not that I mind missing it," Shishido said smugly, which earned him an upset look from Ohtori and a scoff from Oshitari, whom both, it seemed, had wanted to see Romeo and Juliet.

"Shishido-san!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, sorry."

"Perhaps the two met somewhere and are currently in peril with one another," Oshitari said with a knowing smirk.

"What are you implying, Yuushi?" Gakuto muttered, never taking his glare off of Momoshiro.

"Well…" Oshitari never finished his sentence as his eyes wandered to the elevators and the glowing button that was currently stuck at the number three.

"Ah, I see," Fuji agreed with a soft giggle. "Should we trouble ourselves to get them down?"

"Perhaps…" Oshitari sighed with a smile. "Or perhaps not…"

"What are you guys talking about?" asked everyone else, who weren't smart enough to get what they were indicating and talking about."

"Tch. Everyone is so mada mada dane." (Incorrect use of grammar here, I know.)

* * *

And so it was silently decided by Oshitari and Fuji that they would tell (this time) someone that both of their captains were (presumably) stuck together in said elevator. Of course, Hyoutei had anticipated a long rant from Atobe about not getting there sooner, and Seigaku had anticipated a hundred laps each. However, what they found when the elevator doors finally opened was… 

"They're both together… sleeping," Oshitari and Fuji chorused. Yet another golden moment this was.

"What?" Inui exclaimed as he dashed over, pen still poised on notebook, soon followed by everyone else save Momoshiro and Gakuto, who had gone from best of seven to doing best of thirty-seven. "Ah, so they are. Data…. Data…"

And indeed the two were. Atobe was in a corner; head leaning against his knee as his other leg was extended out, a half-foot from where Tezuka had seemingly fallen unconscious leaning against a wall. (Get those bad thoughts out of your minds, people!)

"Aww!" Eiji exclaimed as he let out a laugh. "They look so peaceful together that way."

"You know, I had actually suspected Tezuka to be ordering Atobe laps out of habit of ordering us to do the same whenever we upset him or something ," Fuji admitted.

"Really? Do you now?" Oshitari asked. "I had expected Atobe to have been slapping Tezuka and yelling at him over something only the two of them could possibly be concerned with."

"Our captain doesn't get ordered around," Hiyoshi scowled.

"Our captain doesn't get slapped," Kaidoh hissed.

Those two comments then set off a spitfire of insults between the Hyoutei regulars and the Seigaku ones, save the selected few (whom you should possibly have guessed) who were either trying to break them up, too busy scribbling down notes, buying soda, or simply smiling at the havoc they had caused… or silently conversing by themselves in a corner.

"I know you're awake, Tezuka."

"Same, Atobe." (They've been awakened by the awful din also known as their teammates.)

"You should discipline your team more, Tezuka."

"As to you, Atobe."

"You know, if we hurry, we can still catch half the second act of Romeo and Juliet," Oshitari popped in as he glanced at his nonexistent watch.

Atobe tilted his towards Tezuka. "Care to join us? Or do you want to call your parents first?"

"I think they can handle a few more hours of fretting," Tezuka returned suavely.

"Oh, never thought I'd see the day Tezuka Kunimitsu started turning rebellious," Fuji laughed.

"Let's go then. Let's see how long it'll take these fools before they find out we're gone. Come, Kabaji." Atobe said as he picked himself up as casually walked out the door.

"Usu."

Tezuka could only sigh before he too followed (Not before borrowing Fuji's cell phone and calling his parents first of course because Tezuka was a good boy after all.) along with Oshitari and Fuji, both dragging a reluctant Ryoma to watch the second half of Romeo and Juliet. (To which Oshitari smirked smugly through, to which Fuji smiled hopelessly through, through which Kabaji did nothing through, to which Ryoma drank juice the entire time through, to which Tezuka cringed at the vivid language through, and to which Atobe ended up sleeping through.)

"Mada mada dane…" (Because it just can't end any other way, right?)


	2. Floor 2: Marui&Sakuno

* * *

Floor Two: Marui and Sakuno

* * *

The elevator went –DING!— and Sakuno gulped down all her fears as she took a nimble step towards the door, only to recoil in fear and telling herself she would definitely catch the next ride up. The occupant of the elevator shot her a strange look before the doors went shut again, leaving Sakuno whimpering in fright. Definitely the next one, she told herself, definitely the next one.

However, the next elevator came and went, and Sakuno was still dead afraid of so much as taking a single step towards machine, leaning against the wall with her head down against the box of cakes she had baked for Ryoma.

The elevator door opened again, and Sakuno didn't so much as gave a glance, too indulged in her fear to really care. She would have taken the stairs upstairs, really,down all forty-six flights… if there were any stairs in this department building.

"Hey, are you getting on or what?"

Sakuno's head snapped upwards, her eyes in surprise as she heard a voice calling from inside the opened doors. She gave a small gasped as she realized just who was standing inside the opened doors, casually leaning against the back wall with a green bubble exploding through his lips.

"Hey! I know you! You're that Seigaku girl!" Marui noted as his bubble popped. Sakuno nodded slowly.

"I… um… eh… y-you don't have to… um…"

"I'm not like Kirihara, I don't bite," Marui told her with a smirk. Sakuno was practically shaking now. There was just no way she could get out of this, and she knew it. It was time to face her fears. So slowly, and ever so meekly, Sakuno got on the elevator. The doors shut, and so did Sakuno's eyes.

_You're all right, you're all right, you're all right, you're all right…_ she told herself over and over again as she hugged onto the box of cakes for Ryoma. However, she was too focused on trying not to freak out to notice how ridiculous she must have looked in front of Marui. The boy could only conclude it was a girl thing, and didn't say much. Besides, it's not like he even knew her name, just that she was 'that Seigaku girl'.

However, when the elevator suddenly cam to an unexpected halt, light flickering between the sixth and seventh floor, and Sakuno gave a terrified shriek, Marui could keep silent no longer.

"Are you okay?" he asked her after he called for help from the elevator operator, who 'says' he'll get them down in around fifteen minutes at most. (Except then you end up waiting for an hour and a half and still no people because they're always on break.)

Sakuno was now crouched in a corner, box in front of her and both hands on her head, curled up in a ball, whimpering in fright, muttering things like: "It'll be fine" and "You won't die, Sakuno". Marui could only speculate that she was either terrified by him (which he doubted because everyone just _had_ to LOVE Marui) or that she had some kind of metal disorder he didn't know about.

"Well, the mechanic guy says we should be moving in about fifteen minutes or so," Marui informed her. Sakuno's head shot up again, her eyes wide with terror and her face ghostly white.

"F-f-fit-t-teen m-m-m-minutes!" she gasped, clutching her heart. Marui gave her an odd look, and Sakuno finally took the time to explain. "I-I'm claustrophobic!"

Marui slapped him forehead. Oh, great, wonderful! Now she'll probably faint on him or -THUMP!- … something… Okay, he really shouldn't have thought about that.

* * *

"Say, Echizen, have you seen my granddaughter Sakuno anywhere?" Ryuzaki-sensei asked the prestigious youth, who was watching Eiji playing a game against Momoshiro and Inui smirking evilly behind his pitcher of Inui juice.

"No," he replied bluntly.

"Do you have any idea where she might be?" she continued.

"No," Ryoma replied again.

"Well could you possibly look for her? I fear she'd gotten into trouble again."

"No."

"Echizen!"

"… Fine…"

* * *

"CIVILIZATION!" Marui screamed in joy as the elevator doors opened at last. It was getting kind of stuffy being trapped in one, not to mention quite awkward with a fainted girl next to him. She still hasn't woken up yet, unfortunately.

"Sorry it too so long, kid," the mechanic apologized sheepishly. "I was on tea break (because tea is just so much better than coffee) and the hotel manager had a hard time tracking me down and- whoa! What happened to her?"

"Claustrophobia," Marui explained as the guy sighed and walked away, muttering things like 'My tea got cold'. Then Marui finally perked up and remembered that Sakuno was still lying unconscious in the elevator. Oh, wonderful.

Marui considered his options.

He could A: leave her there and wait for her to either wake up or for someone else to wake her up.

He could B: call 1-1-9 (Japanese number for the hospital if I'm not mistaken.) and leave it to the medics.

He could C: drag her to tennis practice, which he was already late for, and dump her on Yagyuu before trying to explain to Sanada and Yukimura why he was late.

"This is just perfect…" Marui sighed as he popped a fresh piece of bubblegum in his mouth. His options were limited and frankly, they all sucked. Life was not being fair to him. Why, out of all the possibilities…

"Move."

Marui gave a start as he whirled around to face none other than boy wonder himself, cap in place and hands in his pockets with a rather bored and annoyed look on his face. Marui's eyes widened as he recognized the boy in all his 'Mada mada dane' glory.

"Y-You!" he sputtered as Ryoma lightly pushed him aside and went into the elevator. Marui stared in confusion as why the boy was here before seconds later Ryoma emerged with Sakuno in tow by the back of her collar. If he could, Marui would've sweatdropped.

"Bye," Ryoma said bluntly.

"H-Hey!" Marui said. Ryoma paused, but didn't look back. "Shouldn't you be- I don't know…"

"Ah…" Ryoma said blankly before he grabbed Sakuno and flung her over his shoulder, taking care to keep her skirt down. Not exactly what Marui had in mind, but it was better than dragging the poor girl around on the floor.

"Wait!" Marui called again. Ryoma sighed but kept on walking. People were so annoying… "Your friend forgot…" Marui trailed off as he realized that Ryoma was nowhere in sight.

Now, being the curious little boy he was, Marui wouldn't resist taking a peek as to what was in there, regardless of the fact that he should well have caught up to Ryoma and returned it. However, the returning thought immediately slipped his mind as he realized that there were cakes, very well made cakes inside of the box. Marui licked his lips.

Well, at least one good thing came out of all this.


	3. Floor 3: Shinji&Akutsu

Rating might be higher due to Akutsu's eh, _colorful_ language. Excuse the short chapter.

* * *

Floor Three: Shinji and Akutsu

* * *

"Are you getting on? Because if you're not getting on, I'm going to close the doors, but you should be getting on because it's rude to the person who has to see the doors open just to meet someone that's not getting-"

"I'm getting on $(#$(&!" Akutsu snapped as he stomped on and literally punched in number ten. (Along with number eleven next to it and seven below it) Shinji gave him a strange look.

"Why are you so angry? You know, it's not nice to be angry. People will think you have issues, which you probably do, but-"

"Can you shut up?" Akutsu growled. Shinji gave him another strange look.

"You know, telling people to shut up isn't nice. It's not good for building friendships, but I don't think you want to be friends with me because you're that mean guy from Yamabuki who-"

Akutsu opened his mouth to tell Shinji something using his vast arsenal of vulgar language, but was !$! (vocabulary word number seven hundred and eighty-nine from said vast arsenal of vulgar language in case anyone was interested) interrupted by a violet jolt. The elevator came to an abrupt halt. Akutsu tripped and banged his head into the wall while Shinji, miraculously, seemed completely unaffected and was riled up in another of his mumbling rants again.

"The elevator isn't moving, which probably means that we're stuck together in an elevator which isn't good because I promised to help Kamio buy sanitary napkins for An, but I guess it's a good thing I'm going to be late because then maybe Kamio will just go buy them himself because I don't want to look like a- oh, the elevator's moving again which means I'll probably have to meet Kamio and go to the store with him and-"

"(!$&!)(!)($&!" Akutsu, for a lack of a better word, smashed onto Shinji, who could only blink with obliviousness as Akutsu raised his fist and was _just_ about to punch the daylights out of the poor boy when suddenly the elevator DINGED open, revealing…

"SHINJI!" Kamio was appalled, to say the least, to find his friend being pinned down by a monster ready to kill him. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!"

"Ah, it's Kamio. I was just about to get beat up I think, but then you interrupted so I think I'll be getting beat up some time later though I really don't want to get all bloody and bruised because then I'd have to miss out on tennis practice and I won't get to play and…"

Akutsu decided that he was never, ever, EVER going to use elevators again. They were unreliable and such incidents as this one could occur, and Akutsu did NOT want to wind up being stuck in an elevator with anyone ever again.

"…and then I'd have to go top the hospital and I don't like hospitals because the food is always yucky and the nurses gossip too much and-"

Akutsu resisted the urge to scream. So instead, he just punched the living daylights out of Shinji, who would be spending the next three days recovering from a concussion. Let's all pity the poor boy.


	4. Floor 4:Shishido&Yukimura

* * *

Floor Four: Yukimura and Shishido

* * *

The hospital had always been a place Shishido had hated. After the incident with Atobe and Tezuka, Shishido decided he hated the hospital even more. However, a visit there was inevitable, for his brother had twisted his ankle doing who knows what, and Shishido had been quite literally 'forced' to visit him. Honestly, he'd rather attend tennis practice first and visit later. What difference did it make?

DING!

Shishido gave a sigh as the elevator door opened and in he went. He was about to press the button for the seventh floor when he noticed that it was already pressed. He blinked. Shishido hadn't notice that there was someone else in there besides him.

"You look familiar, have we met before?"

Shishido turned towards the source of the melodic voice, and was surprised to see who was in the elevator with him. He had known that Rikkai's Yukimura had been hospitalized, but he never suspected that it was _this_ hospital.

"Shishido Ryou. I'm a regular on Hyoutei's tennis club," Shishido replied. Yukimura seemed to light up at that.

"Ah… you're from Atobe," he said with a smile. "Sanada gave me a long ranting about him more than once befor."

"Oh…" Shishido managed to say. Actually, he wanted to retort for he didn't like being placed under Atobe, but Yukimura seemed too nice and… _fragile_ to be retorting to. Besides, Shishido knew he had quite the reputation on court, and there was just apart of him that couldn't help but admire and respect the mild-mannered boy.

"So what brings you here?" Yukimura went on more gravely. "Did something hap-"

And of course, with a shrieking so loud that even Aoi Kentarou's voice would be drowned in, the elevator came to a halt with a jolt so sudden that it sent Yukimura tumbling out of his wheelchair (see episode 164) and Shishido landing on his back. Ouch…

"S-Sorry for the trouble…" Yukimura spurted out his famous line as his spine ached for release of the unwelcome weight. Shishido, however, seemed to have knocked his head on the arm of Yukimura's wheelchair and is now knocked out until further notice. Oh the woe that was bestowed on Rikkai's captain! Now he might have to have spine surgery as well! How pitiful…

* * *

"Y-Yukimura!" Sanada clutched his heart in fear of a heart attack as he witnessed the scene before him. Somehow, the sight of Shishido laying limp over a now unconscious and pale Yukimura wasn't the most pleasant of things to see after an hour of worrying over his captain and searching for him.

"Really, Sanada, keep better tabs on your captain," Atobe sneered. "Kabaji, get Shishido and lets go."

"Usu."

"Oh, and Sanada," Atobe went on, "Make sure your captain doesn't die. I was hoping to play him one day once he gets better."

Piece of advice: never mention 'Yukimura' and 'die' in the say sentence in front of Sanada, else he might just faint like he has now. Well, at least Yukimura had company in his unconscious state. You could say it wasn't the best of things to wake up to a throbbing back and Marui's green bubble a couple of centimeters before you nose, but that's another story for all's not well ends, well, not well!


End file.
